After bill fails, government tells parliament ‘false narrative’ through FAQs

New Delhi: The government on Sunday published a series of FAQs on its bill to fast-track women quota in the legislature and increase Lok Sabha seats by 50 per cent, which has now been defeated in the Lok Sabha as part of a campaign to debunk what it called “false and misleading narratives” by the Congress and its allies. The government said delimitation was crucial to implement women’s reservation and that increasing the number of constituencies to 850 was in line with fair representation given India’s population surged from 540 million in 1971 to 1.4 billion. “No changes are proposed in the Delimitation Commission Act. Any recommendations of the commission require parliamentary approval and presidential assent.” Ongoing elections, including those in states like Tamil Nadu or West Bengal, will not be affected as elections before 2029 will be held under the current system, the report said. bjp Sent MP Anurag Thakur to Karnataka where he claimed Congress had exposed its anti-women agenda. “If misogyny were an Olympic sport, Congress would win the gold medal,” he said, adding that this marks the fifth time Congress and its allies have blocked reservation for women. “The claim that south India will suffer is a 100 per cent lie; no southern state will lose even a small part of its voice,” he said. Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said, “The Modi government is conducting a damage control exercise after its disastrous defeat in LS on April 17. The Modi government has issued a series of FAQs and answers – not before the bill was introduced, but after the bill failed to pass LS.” In reply to 14 questions, the government defended the amendment, pointing out that the original law stipulated that reservation for women should be implemented based on delimitation after the 2026 census. It said, “If the government waits for the census and subsequent delimitation, women will not benefit… even in the 2029 elections…” The government said the proposal to allow 850 seats was based on a proportional expansion approach. Small states will see a uniform 50% increase in seats, it added. The government said that with the expansion of the House of Representatives, the number of seats reserved for castes and scheduled tribes will increase significantly. The government denies accusations that the bill is aimed at delaying the caste census and says a time-bound operation has already begun.